MILITARY BRAT: “I grew up
everywhere because my dad was in the navy. I had to adapt to each
environment.”

GIRL POWER: “My family’s full of wild women. My grandma
was a prima ballerina, so my acting stems from her.”

FAST TIMES:
Clemons spent her teenage years in Redondo Beach, California, acting in
high-school plays—“My mom pushed me into doing musical
theater”—and soon turned professional in L.A. “I had a routine for
four years of just working at Abercrombie Kids and auditioning.” In
2014, she booked the cult classic Dope. “My life shifted.”

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BRUSHSTROKES: After two seasons on Amazon’s Transparent and a starring
role in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, next month Clemons is Mimi Pastori
in the coming-of-age tale The Only Living Boy in New York. “She’s an
indecisive artist who’s naïve about romantic relationships—I can
relate!”

SUPERPOWER: Up next, Warner Bros. cast Clemons to play DC
Comics’ Iris West in the anticipated superhero movies Justice League and
The Flash. “At this time in America, I think people want to watch
heroes. People point out that I’m black and playing Iris West, but in
high school I was black Sandy in Grease. So I keep that one in my back
pocket to let people know it’s not my first rodeo.”